Shades of Lavender
by I have a new user name email i
Summary: Ever wondered about Lavender Brown? Well, read about her in her sixth year and all that happens to her.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer : It's not mine. Never will be. So now I'm going to go cry. J/K.

Chapter 1: Last Week Of Summer

"Lavender!" Inwardly, Lavender groaned. It was her last week of summer. Her last week at home and today she was left to baby sit her younger brother Julian. He was six years younger than her but wanted her attention all the time. Well, _almost_ all the time.

"What?" She called from her place on the couch in the family room where she was polishing her nails with some new charmed polish. It normally a light pink but changed colours each day, and wasn't suppose to fade for two weeks.

"Want to play a game of gob stones?" Julian asked. In all honesty she was sick of that game and wizarding chess. He'd challenged her nearly every day to play against him since she'd been home for the holidays. She was just about to say no but remembered that she wouldn't see him until the Christmas break. Sighing, she told him she'd be ready in ten minutes. So far this summer she'd been to Hermione's house for a week, then to Pavarti's house for a few days, and then her family had went to France to visit her aunt Lavender (who she was named after). Other than those three trips, she'd been at home which was fine with her. Now that the return to school drawing nearer, she was torn between wanting to go back and wanting to be home a little longer. Finally she finished with her manicure and played a game of gob stones with Julian. She could have won but decided to let him.

An hour later, her mum and dad returned from the friend's house that they'd been having tea at and she was freed from watching her brother. She retreated to her room for some relax time. After closing her door, she pulled a red and gold velvet covered book from under her bed and began updating her diary. She'd picked red and gold in honour of her school house colours. She turned her wireless radio on and put in a CD of the Weird Sister's - a popular group in the wizarding world. She sang along as she updated in her diary about the every day events. She was interrupted shortly later by a tapping on her window. She got up and opened the window to let in the owl It flew in and dropped a letter at her feet, then perched on the window sill to wait for a answer to take back to it's owner. Lavender quickly noticed the letter was written on pink paper and since that was Pavarti's favourite colour, she assumed it was from her. She started reading happily since she hadn't heard from her best friend in a week or two.

_Dear Lavender,  
I'm writing from the steps of our new house, I haven't had time to write since we spent the last week and a half moving. Mum got a promotion and we've moved to Italy, I'm so sorry I didn't write before we left but we had to be here in Italy by the twenty-fifth of August. I love Italy, but Oh, Lavender! I won't be coming back to Hogwarts. I'm transferring to a different school of wizarding thats closer to my new home. At least we can write to each other, and maybe you can come here next summer. I'll miss you. Take care.  
XO Pavarti_

Lavender folded the letter and laid it on her desk. She pulled a piece of parchment from a drawer and wrote back, then tied her reply to the owl's leg and watched it fly away.

"Hmm, I wonder if she wrote to Hermione to tell her about the move?" Lavender thought, and decided to write and tell Hermione. They both would miss there room mate. Especially Lavender. Hermione was a nice enough friend but she was not in to all the same thing's as Lavender and Pavarti such as boys, makeup and gossip. Lavender finished her letter to Hermione and, opened the door to her owl's cage.

"Come on Misty." Lavender coaxed the owl out of the cage. If it had been dark outside, no coaxing would have been necessary, but it was in the middle of the day and Misty had been sleeping. She tied the letter to the leg of the white owl and watched her fly out into the blue sky.  
Her last week of summer went by pretty quickly. Three day's before term was to start, she got her letter from Hogwarts with the list of books she'd need. She wondered who would be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts this year. In all of her five years at schooling there, she'd had had a different teacher for that subject each year.

"Mum, when can you take me to Diagon Alley to pick up my school stuff?" Lavender asked her mum, who she found in the kitchen making a pumpkin cake.

"Later today. Let me finish this cake. It's for a dinner party at the Thomas's." Her mum answered while stirring the batter. Her parents were close friends with most of the parents of the people in her year.

"Oh ok, then I'll go get ready." She replied and ran upstairs to change out of her pyjama. She loved them. They were black with multi-coloured stars all over them and each had a small rhinestone in the center. She changed, pulling on her robes and grabbing her list of needed books went down to wait for her mum.

A/N: If anyone was wondering about the title, the shade's part is to show that while reading her story, you see the parts of Lavender's personality and all. Hmm, maybe that isn't explained right but you probably get it. :) Please leave a review.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N To my reviewers so far: Thanks for the reviews. I know nobody ever writes about Lavender so that's where I kind of got the idea to write this. If you have any ideas, please email me or something, because I don't have this story completely planned. Well, on with the story, and duh I don't own it or I wouldn't be writing fan fiction.

They were on their way out the door when an owl flew through the open kitchen window and landed on the table near Lavender's mum. Her mum untied the letter and looked worried as she read it.  
"What is it, mum?" Lavender wanted to know while Julian was trying to read over their mum's shoulder.

"Quit that." Mrs Brown snapped. She answered Lavender.  
"My mum is sick. I need to get to Paris to help your Aunt Lavender look after her."  
"Oh no. Not Gramma!" Lavender cried, worried.

Her Gramma was at least over eight but Lavender loved spending time with her and would miss her a lot if she passed away.

Lavender's mum began pacing the kitchen, thinking.  
"Ok. I'll send an owl to your dad and tell him I have to leave. You go on to Diagon Alley and get what you need." Her mum instructed as she handed Lavender some gold.  
"Oh, and you'll have to take your brother."

By this time Julian had already left the room. Lavender wanted to whine about having to take him, knowing that he'd be pestering her to buy thing's for him in at least every store, but in light of the circumstance's she didn't knew better.

"Julian!" Lavender shouted after mum had left. He ran in from wherever he'd been.  
"Let's go. We're going to Diagon Alley and please don't make a prat of yourself, I haven't enough money to buy you things." She informed him as she took Floo Powder from a jar on the mantelpiece over the fire place.  
"You'd better follow me and if I have to come back and get you..." She let the threat hang, she loved her little brother but knew what sort of tricks to expect from him.  
"Lav, just go. I'm coming!" He said annoyed. She step in to the fire, tossed the powder, shouting clearly "Diagon Alley!"

Suddenly, she was spinning through many fire places and seconds later, landed on her knees in the Leaky Cauldron. Standing, she step away from the fire place and straightened her robes. Julian flooed not long after, and they set off to do her shopping.

All the shops were packed with back to school shoppers. She even ran into Dean Thomas and after greeting's told him to let his mum know her mum wouldn't be at there dinner party that night. She quickly explained why and said she'd see him at school.  
"Can we get some ice cream?" Julian asked. Lavender sighed.  
"Go get some and meet me in Flourish and Blots, ok?" She said, grudgingly handing him the money. They weren't poor but they weren't rich either. They were more like somewhere in the middle and she knew mum hadn't had much inn her purse so she hadn't given Lavender much.

She was looking around in Flourish and Blots when a girl walked over and asked.  
"Excuse me do you know where Transfiguration volume six might be?" Lavender noted that her accent was different. She wondered where she was from. The girl looked about her age with shoulder length curly chocolate brown hair and a heart shaped face.

"Sure. This way." Lavender led her across the shop to where she'd just picked up a copy of the same book. The girl who was pretty chatty kept talking as she reached for a copy. Unlike Lavender who had had to stand on tip toe to reach the book, the girl grabbed it easily. She envied the girl who was at least three inches taller than her. Lavender was only about five three and hated it.

"I'm starting at a new school this year, Hogwarts. Do you go there?" The girl asked, following Lavender back over to the books on Charms for hair and stuff like that. She listened as she flipped through a book titled "Quick and Easy Beauty Charms".  
"Yeah. I do." Lavender replied, already deciding to get the book. She was in luck that it was on sale.

"My family just moved here from Italy and they're at home unpacking. I had to come shopping by myself." She chattered on. Her incessant chatter didn't really bother Lavender.  
"Well, you're welcome to shop around with me." Lavender said stepping into line to pay for her books.

"Really? Thanks. I'm Gabrielle by the way."

"I'm Lavender." She replied, turning to look for Julian who should have been back by now,

Just as she was starting to get worried, he came in licking an ice cream cone.

"That is my little brother, Julian." Lavender said pointing in his direction as she paid for her books. She then waited with Julian while Gabrielle paid for her purchases.

Lavender had almost finished buying what she needed. They were standing outside the broom shop where Julian had dragged them to; Gabrielle was looking over her list of school things she had to get.

"Where do I buy school robes?" She asked Lavender, who was lost in her new beauty-charms book. Closing it, Lavender told her where to go.

"It's that way and I should come along anyway because I need new dress robes.

"Lavender, do we have too!" Julian complained.

"Yes, I have to. If you promise to stay in the broom shop, I'll pick you up when I'm done."

"Ok," he replied as Lavender and Gabrielle set off for Madam Maulkin's.

They entered and noticed a sign that informed them all dress robes were half-price.  
"Oh, goody." Lavender said. This meant she could get two sets of dress robes.

They rifled through the racks, but most of the prettiest robes had been sold off already. She finally settled on some nice lilac robes and after paying, she waited around for Gabrielle to be fitted for her school robes.

"Well, it was nice to meet you; I hope I'm in your house." Gabrielle said as they parted outside the robe shop.

"Yes, me too. See you at school." Lavender said and waved goodbye as she went to find Julian so they could go home.

Back at home, the house was empty, and a very annoyed owl was waiting on the window sill in the kitchen. It looked liked it had been waiting a while and it wasn't too happy about it.

"It's a note from dad," Julian said pulling the note from the owl's beak.

"What does it say?" Lavender asked as she sat her bags down.

"He has to work late and that we should go ahead to the Thomas's dinner party." Julian said.

"Ok. Well, go play and I'll let you know when it's time to go." She shouted on her way upstairs, eager to put her new stuff into her school trunk.

Good, she thought. Going to the dinner party meant she could wear her new dress robes. She hummed happily as she arranged her new books and folded robes in her trunk. There were only four day's left until she'd be leaving for school and she could hardly wait.


	3. Chapter 3

Back to School

On the morning of September 3rd, Lavender was already up early, tossing last minute items into her trunk. She thought she was done packing when she remembered her diary. She pulled it from under her bed and after piling some more books and clothes over to hide it, she locked her trunk. She made her way downstairs after getting dressed and began making breakfast.

"Morning," she greeted her dad as she sat the toast and bacon on the table.  
Julian stumbled sleepily in to the kitchen seconds later.

"Ready to go back to school?" Her dad asked, spreading jam on his toast.

"Yeah. I wasn't at first but I am now," Lavender said as she poured pumpkin juice into her favourite glass. There was really nothing truly special about the glass except the fact that she'd gotten it at a Weird Sister's concert. A picture of the group was on one side. She just happened to like it a lot.

"Do you have time for one last game of gobstone's?" Julian asked taking a chair at the table. Lavender looked at the clock over the sink, and shook her head.

"Nope. Sorry but we have less than an hour to get to the train station," She answered.

While she was clearing the breakfast dishes, an owl tapped on the kitchen window. She opened it and a brown owl flew in. It dropped a note from Pavarti on the floor. She picked it up and immediately tucked it in to her pocket. She didn't have the time to read it now. She still hadn't heard back from Hermione, so she didn't have her owl, Misty to take to the train station just her cage which would spare her odd looks from the Muggles.

Finally, they reached at the train station. Lavender was excitedly looking around for friends from school.

"Hey" Someone said from behind Lavender, who was waiting her turn to go through the barrier between platforms nine and ten. She turned to find Gabrielle smiling, holding a small fluffy kitten.

"Oh, hi," Lavender replied, happy to find someone she knew.

"I got a kitten for my birthday." Gabrielle said stroking the cat's fur as she talked.

Finally, the crowd around the barrier lessened and Lavender and Gabrielle could go through. They found a compartment and settled in. Lavender had already said her good-bye's to her dad and brother. They hadn't had much time, since her dad dropped her off on his way to work. Funny, she hadn't seen Gabrielle's family.

"Who brought you to the train?" Lavender inquired. As the compartment door slid open and three people came in, Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"Hi." Lavender greeted them then waited for Gabrielle's answer.

"Oh, My mum but she didn't stay long had some sort of meeting to get to." Gabrielle told her.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione, this is Gabrielle..." She cut off not knowing her last name.

"Gabriele Rosa." Gabrielle supplied.

"Pleased to meet you," Hermione said, and Gabrielle went on to tell them how she'd just moved to England from Italy.

"Hermione, did you get my owl yet?" Lavender asked.

"No. What did you write to me about?" Hermione asked.

"Pavarti wrote and said she was moving to Italy. Her mum got a promotion." 

"Well, that's good. For her mom I mean. We'll miss her though." Hermione said.

"Yeah. Oh, I forgot! I just got a letter from her." Lavender pulled the folded letter from her pocket and started reading it.

_Hi, Lav. Getting ready to board the train here for my new school. Write to you soon.  
P_

"Well, she didn't write much," said Lavender, passing the letter to Hermione.

"I'm going to go look for my cousin," Gabrielle announced, getting up to leave.

"You have a cousin in Hogwarts?" asked Lavender, looking surprised.

"Yeah. Kate Forbs. She's in Ravenclaw," Gabrielle replied on her way out.

Not long after Gabrielle's departure, the compartment door slid open again and Ginny entered.

"Hi, Ginny," Lavender said.

"Hi," Ginny replied, taking Gabrielle's seat.

"So, How was everyone's summer?" Lavender asked.  
"Good," They replied at the same time.

Just then, they heard the voice of Draco Malfoy from outside.  
"Father bought me a new broom. The Firebolt Two Thousand." His bragging was nothing new.

Just as Ron began complaining about him, the door opened yet again and Luna Lovegood came in.

"Hello," She said sitting down with a copy of the Quibbler. The train ride went uneventful until they heard shouts in the hall.

"I've been itching ever since I ate that damned chocolate frog!" It was Malfoy again.

Lavender had to go to the bathroom. On her way, she caught sight of Malfoy along with his two friend's talking to the witch who pushed around the food cart. Lavender had to dive in the bathroom quickly before she started laughing. Malfoy was clawing at his arms and legs and dancing on the spot.

Wonder what his problem is? Lavender thought as she shut the bathroom door.

When she came out he was still in the hall shouting.

"Wait till my father hears about this. He'll close down the chocolate frog company." He was still scratching furiously.

"What's going on out there?" Harry asked when Lavender came back in.

"Malfoy's ate a chocolate frog and is having a fit because he claims it's making him have a full body itch." Lavender said laughing.

"You should see him scratching and all." She shrieked with laughter.

"Thought that'd give him a nice start to his first term." Ron commented.

"Ron...you _didn't_?" Ginny asked, sounding amused.

"Yeah I did. I slip him a chocolate frog with itching potion. It's Fred and George's latest invention," Ron replied, smirking.

They all laughed as they heard an exasperated scream from the hall.

"Sound's like he's losing his mind!" Harry said, laughing.

"Really!" Hermione muttered as she read sixth year Muggle Studies textbook

"What? You don't think the bouncing ferret could do with some itching?" Ron asked.

"Yes, but..." Hermione trailed off.

"Come on. You think its funny too," Ginny coaxed.

"Oh alright," Hermione grinned.

Hermione was always "the lets not break any rules" type but lately she'd started to relax about it, but there still were times when she went back to being her old self.

Luna had kept on reading her magazine as if nothing had happened. 

Lavender wondered if she'd be seeing Gabrielle again, she liked her, but then again something seemed a little bit off with her. Like maybe she was a little stuck up because of the way she had to leave as soon as Lavender's friends showed up.

Well if she thought she was better than other less pampered people she could just stay away, Lavender thought, then felt a little bad. 

After all, she hadn't really gotten to know her yet. She had noticed that Gabrielle's robes and other things were a bit nicer and fancier than her or her friend's things.

"We're almost there," The witch, who pushed the food cart, stuck her head in the door and informed them.

"Come on, Hermione, Ginny." Lavender said pulling her black robes from her trunk. The three girls left to change. They didn't have to pull Luna away from her magazine since she already had on her robes. 

They walked past the compartment where Malfoy and his gang were hanging out.

"I can't stand this!" They heard him shout.

Snickering they entered the bathroom to change.

When the train let them off, they got into the carriages to take them to Hogwarts. They used to believe that the carriages were pulled by magic but they found out last year about the thestrals. Lavender was still a bit put off that they were being pulled by something she couldn't see.

When inside the castle, they took their seats at the Gryffindor house table, and waited to watch the sorting. Malfoy wasn't there as he'd been taken to the hospital wing. This, of course pleased all of them a lot. Professor McGonagall called the names from the list of student' to be sorted. Gabrielle ended up in Ravenclaw along with the girl whom Lavender assumed was her cousin. They hugged her as soon as Gabrielle joined their table.  
After the usual start of year announcements from Dumbledore, the feast began.

"Well, looks like you and I have the dorm to us this year." Lavender commented to Hermione as she filled her plate.

"Yeah," Hermione replied as she added a baked potato to her own plate. 

During the feast Misty flew in and dropped Lavender's note in Hermione's lap before taking off to the owlry.

"Funny, it took her long enough to get that to you." Lavender said.

"Well, I have been in and out a lot. Mum, dad, and I just got back from our trip to Spain and three day's ago, I was at the Burrow and now here."

"I can't wait to see who the new Dark Art's teacher for this year is," Hermione said searching the staff table.

"Doesn't look like anyone new is here yet does it?" Harry put in.

"No." Ron replied.

After their plates were cleared, Dumbledore stood again and a hush fell over the Great Hall.

"One last announcement," He said.

"As I'm sure, you've all been wondering about who will take over the post of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classes. I'll clear that up for you now. Our new teacher has had some last minute problem's getting here but she will be here day after tomorrow, therefore, all Dark Arts classes for your first day are cancelled,"

"Didn't even tell us her name, did he," Ginny said.

"It may be on our course schedules." Hermione pointed out.

"We'll probably get them in the morning," Lavender said, stifling a yawn. She got up from the table, and after saying good night, she headed in the direction of Gryffindor tower. She fell asleep as soon as she got onto her four poste bed.


End file.
